“Exactly why I didn’t volunteer. You’re the one who volunteers for the speech, remember? You know there’s a reason why Olly and I were ‘not present’ during the meeting, right? Because we know the meeting will boils down to who would give the damn speech.”

“Oh for the love of God, could you please stop being a smartypants? For once? Please?”

“Wow, aren’t you religious today.”

“Look, just stop saying things if it’s not going to help me. Please. That’s all I ask from you.”

“You know, all you have to do is go up to the stage, say a few meaningless words, wait for the occasional clap here and there, then it’ll all be over before you know it.”

“Okay, why don’t you do it, then?”

“One, I’m not the one volunteering. Two, they’re expecting you, not me. Three, in what universe would I be the one giving a speech? How many reasons would you need for me to answer your question? Look, how hard could it be? You’ve been doing this for years. Hell, you make money from literally speaking in front of crowds, now why would giving speech on our parents’ 30th wedding anniversary would be any harder than your regular job?”

“Because I am not who I am anymore.”

“Look, getting stood up on your own anniversary a couple of months ago sucks. We all get that. But, are you seriously telling me, you’re going to let that prick screw you up thrice? It’s bad enough he stood you up on the anniversary of your relationship, then he dumped you a couple of days later, now you’re going to let the prick made you lose your mojo that you can’t even be comfortable in front of a crowd?”

“Do you really have to make my life that pathetic?”

“It’s pretty pathetic, isn’t it?”

“Well, aren’t you a very supportive sister?”

“I am, aren’t I?”

“In case you didn’t quite get it, I was being sarcastic before.”

“In case you obviously missed the note, I am fully aware you’re being sarcastic but I’m just going to ignore it because I really need you to go out there and do the freaking speech before our parents are freaking out and they’ll send Olly here and then all three of us are not going to be present.”

“What happened to me? I used to be comfortable being in front of people. Heck, I even like it. Why am I such a nervous wreck right now?”

“Because humans aren’t suppose to be just a two dimensional kind of thing. We’re suppose to be three dimensional where you can see it from all angles. You can’t just be one person, you’re the sum of everyone you meet. You are a compilation of everything that you have gone through. You can’t always be the same person as you have been years ago. You’re going to change, for better or for worse, although I would prefer that you’ll change for the better. My point is, it doesn’t matter if you’re a bit nervous today, because you’ll get over it. It’s probably just a phase, but if you let it get to you, maybe you’ll be like this forever. And surely you don’t want that. You kind of need to make money from being confident, right?”

“Then why do Olly and you get a pass from not being confident? Why do you get to hide from the crowds? Why can’t I do that today?”

“Simple, because Olly and I really don’t want to be doing the speech if you bail out on this. So, I beg you, just please go out and give the damn speech.”

“I could stutter. There. That’s one thing that could happen.”

“So? You’ll say it again until you get it right.”

“But..”

“What’s the worst that could happen? If you stutter, you’ll say it again. You got stood up on your anniversary. You got dumped a couple of days after that. And look at you, you still go to work. You still help make this anniversary dinner work. You’re not going to give up, because that’s who you are. You’re not the confident person in front of the crowd. You’re not the nervous wreck cowering behind the stage. You’re that person, the resilient kind, the one that never gives up. So what if you’re nervous? So what if you stutter? So what if you’re so confident? It don’t matter if you’re going to give up easily.”

“There. Olly said that better than me, Sis.”

“Alright. Let’s do this speech. What’s the worst that could happen, anyway?“